Radley's Home for Horny Monsters by Annabelle Hawthorne (best novels for teenagers .TXT) 📗

seem to come from any of the shrubs either. Instead, it had wound its way around several of them to grow along the statue’s surface. He gave the vine a tug, trying to follow it back to where it came from.

The garden extended along the back of the house. The vines were pressed up against the house too, hidden behind the bushes growing along the outer wall. Walking farther, he stared up along the house’s sides. He was fairly certain he was looking at the master bedroom window.

The yard opened up, revealing a large grassy area. Vines were sprawled everywhere, pressing against the concrete wall that bordered the property and running up the side of the house. They all came from a greenhouse positioned in the corner of the property, three of its panels shattered and allowing the vines through.

“Ah, geez.” Mike shook his head. How the fuck had he missed seeing a giant greenhouse? The tour Beth had given him hadn’t been comprehensive by any means, but he figured even a cursory glance out the window would have revealed this mess. The greenhouse was roughly the size of the garage, and each of the intact glass panels were smeared in dirt from the inside.

No time like the present, he decided. Mike approached the door, the earth smells from inside making his nose wrinkle. The greenhouse door had a large, silver lever. He gave it a twist, frowning when it wouldn’t turn. Rattling the door, he was frustrated when it wouldn’t budge. Crouching for a better look, he saw that a key was needed.

“Of course,” he muttered. He contemplated the creeper vines, wondering if he should chop them up or stuff them back in the greenhouse. On the one hand, chopping them up would be easy. On the other hand, he could kill the plant, and the thought of simply slicing up the vines gave him that weird feeling again in his gut.

One of the vines twitched, flexing like a snake awakening from its nap.

“Oh fuck!”

The bundle of vines spasmed, recoiling enough that they spread across the lawn.

Mike sprinted across the lawn toward the house, giving the vines a wide berth. Coming to the narrow gap between the wall and the house, he saw that the vines had slid away from the house, spreading out and coiling around everything they touched. He hopscotched his way through them, timing his jumps to avoid touching them.

The fountain came into sight, and Naia stood at its edge, her face a mask of concern.

“What’s going on?” she asked, looking at the vines near the fountain. Her eyes met his just as the vines sprung up, a pair of them catching his legs.

“Shit!” Mike pulled the shears from his back pocket and cut at the vines that had ensnared him. Just as he’d sliced himself free, more vines whipped around him, closing in and knocking the shears from his grasp. He made it to the edge of the fountain just as his feet were yanked from underneath him. Naia grabbed onto his wrists and tried to pull him into the water. More of the creeper vines found him and spiraled up his legs and waist.

“Mike!” Naia cried as his grip loosened on the fountain’s edge. She held tightly to his arms, but the vines were simply too powerful. Yanked free of Naia’s grasp, he was pulled across the yard, his fingers scraping at flagstones and dirt. Twisting on his back, he saw the greenhouse looming closer, hungry vines curling in anticipation.

“Help!” Mike screamed, grabbing the vines. They spiraled around his arms, pinning him in place. He was pulled through the windows of the greenhouse, the busted panes cutting his arms. “Fuck!”

The foliage obscured his vision, and then suddenly, the space opened up. A scream lodged in his throat when he realized that he was not inside the greenhouse, but somewhere else entirely. A brilliant, dark blue sky was above him, and the rest of the greenhouse was gone, revealing acres of jungle in every direction. Leaning forward, he saw that the vines were pulling him toward a rocky ledge.

This was it. His brain had finally blown its last fuse. Was he even really here? Was he in bed? Was he in a mental institute, the weird guy who jerked off while pretending to fuck goblins and nymphs?

The world filled with the sound of shattering glass, and Mike heard something heavy hit the ground behind him. Crunching footsteps approached quickly, and the light above vanished behind a dark figure. The edge of the cliff loomed closer, the creature above him frantically swiping at vines with razor-sharp talons. Vines whipped up at his savior, who didn’t even flinch as they struck skin.

Mike’s arms were suddenly free, and he grabbed the figure’s ankle tightly. He was surprised to feel the cool, rough texture of stone beneath his skin, but couldn’t care less. Right now, the person above him was winning.

“Cut the ones down by my feet,” he said, pulling at the figure. More vines were whipping over the edge of the cliff, grabbing at them both. “There are more coming up.”

One foot was free, and then suddenly, the other. The figure helped him to his feet, and they tried to run from the ledge of the cliff, but the creeper vines had created a wall of branches behind them, cutting off their escape.

“Merde!” His savior swore, wrapping stony, feminine arms around him. She lifted him easily from the ground and jumped off the cliff, clutching him tightly. Wings attached to her shoulder blades, nearly twenty feet across, caught the air as they soared into the impossible sky.

Mike gazed at the jungle below, easily miles across in every direction.

“What is this place?” he shouted into the wind.

His savior was struggling to climb into the sky, so they soared along the edge of the cliff toward a massive waterfall. Several rocky ledges traversed the falls like giant steps, and they landed quietly on one of them about halfway down.

“It is